I woke with a small yawn that I managed to stifle at the last second. I stared at Lucas as he snored while he slept. The fire had been reduced to nothing but ash and I nearly slapped myself, I fell asleep when I said I would be on watch.
I walked over to Lucas and shook him awake."Get up Lucas we're burning daylight." He sighed but reluctantly got up."Challenge four: ravine."
"Ugh great," Lucas said sarcastically.
"We need to brainstorm ideas while we walk."
We pressed on but didn't think of any ways we could cross the ravine. We reached the ravine and I was shocked to find-
"A rope," I said and touched it with my hand.
"We can't even use it, it's too thin and it'll snap," Lucas said and I shook my head.
"It's the type of rope acrobatics, tightrope walkers, use and that bit of information is going to save us," I released a shaky breath."This is either gonna go really well or really bad."
"Really good is us getting to the other side and really bad is...?" Lucas said and I shrugged while looking down the dark abyss of the ravine.
"Us taking a hundred foot drop give or take."
I stepped onto the rope with my arms outstretched, my legs bent but back straight. I needed my centre of gravity to be close to the rope but if I bent my back then it would only make me more unbalanced.
I took careful steps forward and tried my best not to look down, just forward, while also making sure my feet didn't slip or anything else that would result in certain doom.
Tightrope walking is hard and dangerous, incredibly dangerous, but when you do it, it feels incredible. You feel like your walking on air, like your flying. It don't feel like your in any danger just...free.
It started getting easier as I got used to it, as I got into more of a rhythm. I took a cocky step forwards and my foot slipped. My foot hung on nothing but air and I felt myself tip slightly.
I lost my balance for a split second but managed to get my foot back on. Unfortunately I also looked down.
I could feel the air getting knocked out my lungs as I saw the drop down. I could very well plummet to my death.
"Chase," a voice said but my brain could hardly process what was happening as the world spun around me.
I could feel it growing in my chest as I felt myself tipping from one direction to another. The fear, the dread, the panic. My chest constricted and I couldn't breathe.
Something gripped my shoulder and I turned to see Lucas holding my shoulder. I focused on his eyes that held nothing but worry.
The world stopped dancing around me and I could see straight again. I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes to stop myself from looking down. My feet automatically righted themselves and my arms returned to their outstretched position.
I opened my eyes and took a careful step forward. And another. And another.
I made my way to the end and breath and sigh of relief as I fell off the rope onto my knees at the end.
Lucas fell down next to me. We were both sweating just form the stress of walking across there, the sun beating down on us and the effort it took.
I grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Thank you. Thank you Lucas. Thank you," I said so quickly in a shaky voice.
He shook his head."Chase have I ever told you just how amazing you are? Seriously, it's like your brain's a computer. I might have helped you get across but if it weren't for you I wouldn't have even stepped onto it in the first place."
"I guess we're even then," I said with a smile and stood up, pulling him with me.
"Come on lazy bones one more Challenge then we're home free."
He nodded and we began walking again.
"He said the next Challenge was a warehouse they rigged up," I sighed."This is not going to be easy."
"Where's the Challenge in easy?" Lucas said with a smile before grimacing.
"Leg?" I asked and he nodded.
"It's not healed fully but a couple more hours or days maybe and it will be."
"I can't really feel my arm," I said with a shrug and bent my arm."My pain threshold seems to border on 'I feel no pain after a while'."
"Maybe it's because your so used to pain from me beating you up like you told my mum in Chemistry," Lucas said accusingly and I laughed nervously.
"You're never going to let that go are you?"
"Nope," he said popping the p.
I rolled my eyes and began trudging over the hill. It was sunny, I would say too sunny, but there was also a soft breeze that ruffled the leaves of the trees and the grass.
I could imagine what I would've done a few months ago; sit down, admire the view, take a nap, wake up, admire the view until sunset then look for constellations before my adoptive mum finally came and dragged me home.
"You know I think that they're trying to kill us," I said randomly.
"Who's they?"
"I don't know Mr.Taylor, Mrs.Vixen, the school in general."
He laughed."Yeah well that's what we get for going to Hunter Academy."
"You mean that's what you get when you go to Hunter Academy. I was kidnapped by you," I reminded him and now he sighed.
"You're never gonna let that go. Are you?" He said and I shook my head.
"Nope." I said while popping the p, blatantly mocking him.
"I don't know why I'm friends with you," Lucas said and I hugged him.
"Because you wuv me," I said like a little kid.
"No."
"You don't wuv me?"
"No."
I let go of him and pouted, crossing my arms."You're a meanie."
"I don't care."
I made my bottom lips quiver and widened my eyes. He avoided looking at me but eventually he sighed and looked at me.
"God how are you do good at that look?" He said and looked away from me again making me smile.
I shrugged."As a kid I knew how to get what I want."
Lucas snorted."Charlotte would just throw a tantrum."
I laughed."Of course. What about you?"
"I knew better."
Now it was my turn to snort."Are you sure about that?"
"I am-"he stopped in his tracks and smirked."Warehouse."
I followed his line of vision to see a massive warehouse that looked in disrepair.
"Race you there," he said before taking off.
"No! Don't..." I stopped and sighed."Stupid, stupid boys."
I chased after him and quickly caught up with him. He was about to run into the warehouse. I tackled him to the ground. I evened out my rapid breathing.
"What are you doing?" I hissed.
"We're nearly finished Chase. Chill," he said and pushed me off him before opening the door of the warehouse.
It slowly creaked open and my brain was yelling Turn back! Turn back! Don't go in there!
It was too late though, Lucas had already stepped inside. I cursed under my breath and ran in after him.
Just as I walked in a snare grabbed Lucas's ankle and yanked him up. He hung from the ceiling by his ankle and thrashed, trying to get free.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation and threw my knife, slicing the rope. Lucas fell down with a small scream as he fell.
"I told you," I said and pulled him up."You don't run right in blind."
He rubbed his back."Yes I know, you're right, but I just want to get this over with."
"Look I get it Lucas but if you rush in we might not even get to the end this. Okay?"
He sighed."Okay."
"Good," I said with a pat on his back."Now we have to reach the other end of the warehouse."
See I was acting all calm on the outside because panicking would not help but on the inside I was panicking. I was panicking so much I could barely think straight.
I stared at the wooden walls. They were intricately designed with indented patterns. I felt an idea spring to mind.
"Take two knives," I said and shoved them into Lucas's hands."We're climbing the wall."
I crept over to the wall, careful not to set any traps off. I reached the wall and stabbed my knives into it. I placed my foot in one of the engraving and moved one hand up, foot, hand, foot, hand.
I was halfway up the wall when I started moving sideways towards the exit. I looked behind me to see Lucas looking slightly unsteady but he was doing it.
I reached the other end of the warehouse pretty easily. I pushed off the wall and let go of my knives, flying backwards. I landed in a crouch on the floor right in front of the exit and Lucas copied me, landing next to me.
I pushed open the door and was walked through out into the open. I looked up to the sky and laughed. Challenge five: completed. Lucas came up behind me and I was about to hug him when the world flickered. I froze.
The door behind us swung shut and the loud click that followed meant that the door was locked. The world flickered again before disappearing all together.
A hologram!
We were trapped in a steel box, there were doors everywhere; the floor, the ceiling, the walls.
"Find the right door!" I shouted and ran to the nearest door. Locked. I tried the next. Locked.
"They're all locked!" Lucas said and I swallowed hard as a humming sound filled the room followed by a scraping sound.
The room was getting smaller all around. The ceiling was coming down while the walls came in. It wasn't that fast but that doesn't mean it wouldn't crush us eventually.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" I yelled.
I jumped up and pulled a door on the ceiling open. At least it wasn't locked, but it didn't actually lead anywhere.
I was about to go for another door when I took a second glance at the door in the ceiling by chance. There was a thin wire hanging down from it.
I ran towards the wall and turned while pushing off. I grabbed the wire and yanked it down as I fell. I landed on the floor with a wire in my hands but on the end of the wire was a key.
"Lucas find a door," I said and threw him the key.
He ran around and tried to find the right door while I got more keys from the ceiling.
I opened the last door on the ceiling and yanked the key out. I had a whole pile of them on the floor, how would we find the right door and key?
"Start opening doors!" I shouted and kicked half of the keys over to Lucas.
I took half the remaining room while Lucas took the other. We were definitely cutting it close. The walls were almost crushing us already.
"This is hopeless! How do we even know if the doors here what if the walls already closed in too much? We are never going to find the door before the walls crush us!" Lucas said and I froze.
"I have an idea."
I stood up and walked over to the wall. I made energy envelope my fist, making it glow gold, before I punched the wall. It dented. I punched again and a bigger dent appeared. It took a while but eventually the wall gave way beneath my hands.
"Lucas come on!" I shouted as the space got smaller and smaller. The space was big enough for me to get through but not Lucas, he was too bulky, he would never make it to me. He was stuck where he was.
I ran towards him and pushed my hands outwards, creating a shield in each hand. I pushed agains the walls and managed to push them back a little.
"Run!" I managed to say in a strained voice and pushed harder against the walls.
Lucas ducked under my arms and ran towards the hole I'd made in the wall. The ceiling brushed against my head, I could hold the walls but I couldn't hold the ceiling. My arms strained as I slowly walked my way over to Lucas. I felt myself shaking. I was pushing myself too far.
My arms finally buckled and the walls began moving in again. I had to bend over to stop the ceiling from hitting me.
I sprinted towards Lucas and gestured for him to go through the hole. He reluctantly left.
The ceiling continued lowering and I had to crawl but my arms grazed the walls. The ceiling was almost covering the opening.
Almost there
I got into a crouch and dived through the hole just as it was covered by the ceiling.
I rolled and landed on soft grass. Lucas was leaning against the outside of the warehouse while I continued to lay down, panting hard.
There was cheering and I lifted my head to see my classmates standing behind a more than annoyed Mr.Taylor.
I gave a weak smile before my head dropped back down.
So tired
I closed my eyes and felt someone pick me up gently. They can carry me, I think I've done enough work for today.